Old stories old friends

Sometimes the old stories

Like old friends 

Are the best, the most comfortable

The most relaxing

To come home to. 

Ready to Write it Out

There are all kinds of words
bumping into each other and swirling around in my brain.
I feel something is dropping into place though
and they are almost ready to come out
almost ready to line up
in straight rows and outlines
and make some damn sense
not quite ready but almost.

Somethings Bear Repeating

There are a few movies that I am sure I will watch every couple of years before I leave this planet. I watched one of them last night. "to Kill a Mockingbird" with Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. What an amazing movie. Everytime I watch this film I see and feel something different. I am always moved.

This movie is brilliant in every way. If you have not watched it yet, do so. (shame on you). The acting, the cinematography, the history are all pretty amazing. Filmed in 1962- it will remain timeless I believe. Though hopefully the racism that is depicted will require more and more explanation to future generations. The history lesson alone is a good reminder of where we came from and how far we still have to travel.

This viewing I was struck by the theme that people are not always what they seem and I don't mean the Boo Radley Character - I mean Atticus himself. That people can make choices, they can be good and many things but focus on the things that they are most proud of, and feel are best for their families,and their communities. I was also struck by how commanding a truly strong will and intellect can be, no matter the threat or the situation. The kids in this one are priceless, especially Scout. And I am so glad that the filmmakers kept so much of the feeling and language of the Harper Lee novel in the screen version.

Films like this are special, rare and important.

inner child

Hands down, my favorite book when i was a child was this one, "The Tall Book of Make-Believe." This book was brilliant in every way and this copy has been well loved. The book is no longer in print but should be. I think this more than anything else fed my imagination and formed some of my long term day dreams.

It was not a story book but a collection of fantastic poems and short tales by famous and not as famous writers. Robert Louis Stevenson, Tennyson, Eugene Field, Carl Sandburg. Brilliant stuff, but what made the book magic was the illustrator! Garth Williams illustrated each and every entry and his work is magical in this book. You completely loose yourself in each drawing. Sugar plum trees, kids in mischief, A Knight fighting a giant Ant, Bears on scooters, Mr. Nobody. Each drawing expertly puts your heart and dream mind right in the brilliant poems or stories.

I want to do something with this book someday, find out if it could be reprinted, or maybe shared with new children in a new way. I think for now I will share some of the pages here in my blog.

My friend has a little girl, she is a star of her mom's blog and says the most wonderful, horrible, amazing, scary, gorgeous things. Lovely to think of her and children like her having a chance to enjoy this book.